Excellent story, acting, visuals and audio mired in formulaic gameplay.

User Rating: 8 | Spec Ops: The Line PC

For as much as Spec Ops: The Line does exceedingly well it failed in one very key area: gameplay. That combined with questionable marketing and tacked on multiplayer doomed this gem to be a commercial flop.

But what a gem it is underneath that fatal flaw. You'll be hard pressed to find a better story in the video game genre, particularly among shooters. At numerous points throughout the game I found myself stopping to simply admire the scenery. The voice acting, motion capture and script were all impressive. The audio, too, caught my attention in a positive way with some engrossing sound effects (I could practically feel the buffeting winds of the game's sandstorms) and a killer soundtrack that is creatively woven into the narrative with the Radioman character.

I don't want to give any plot points away but let me caution that this is a dark, twisted journey that is not for the faint of heart. And you won't be just a spectator throughout. You'll be forced to make decisions that stain your conscience and leave you wondering where the line between good and evil is.

There are some interesting articles out there commenting on how the gameplay was purposely made to be a distasteful slog through a seemly endless supply of faceless enemies. This is meant to impress upon the player that war isn't fun and that a killer's rationalizing mindset ("I had to do it") may be easier to arrive at than we realize. As much as I respect the effort to add depth with this kind of game design, I think that good gameplay is too important to compromise for the sake of making a point that many people won't even notice.

Before closing I'd like to note that this is a fairly short game. My total playtime for 2 playthroughs and unlocking 48/50 achievements was 12 hours. Roughly 6-7 hours first time on normal difficulty, 2 hours on achievements and 3-4 hours playing it again on easy just for the story. I didn't touch the multiplayer.

While the average score for Spec Ops: The Line is not very impressive I strongly recommend looking passed that. It is a game worth experiencing, one that I won't soon forget and one of the better games I've played in recent years.